Poland’s foreign ministry says Russia is expelling an employee of Poland’s consulate in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.

Ministry spokeswoman Ewa Suwara told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Russia’s declaration of the Pole as “persona non grata” was a move of “reciprocity.”   

She did not elaborate and could not say whether the Pole has left Russia. The neighbors have had strained relations.

Russia’s business daily Kommersant reported that the expulsion came after Poland recently expelled Russia’s deputy consul in Poznan.   

 

Last year Poland expelled four Russian diplomats in a gesture of solidarity with Britain, which has charged two Russians with attacking a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter with a nerve agent in Salisbury. Moscow denies involvement.

 
…